You're the Only Ghost I See
by LightningFarr0n
Summary: Stefan and Caroline one shot. As they stand at a distance from each other, a few of their memories together sit vividly in Stefan's mind. AU.


_Author's Note: Completely AU one shot with Stefan and Caroline! I wanted to pick up my slack in writing and last night I just came up with this. Each break in the story with an [x] is the break between flashbacks. I wanted to touch on multiple things: sexy Steroline, distraught Steroline, and of course, heart broken Steroline. Hope you enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this._

* * *

><p>His eyes were captured by the broken hues against the dark of the night staring across at him from the large space between them. If his heart were able to beat, he would have figured that this would have been the moment where it had stopped. There she stood as clear as the piercing light from the sun and yet he couldn't move. The fog circled her, leaving him in a trance with the blonde girl who once claimed his entirety. The moonlight was casting false shadows against the ground through the trees; memories of what they were as no words were spoken.<p>

[x]

Gripping onto her loosely, Stefan groaned into the playful kiss she shared with him before her blazing hands left heated trails down his bare back. Her nails pressed against his skin, a smirk riding on his lips as he grinned into her. Parting from her for a moment to breathe, he smirked down at her. "You like to tease me, don't you?" He asked her, entirely aware of what she was doing to him.

Caroline lay still underneath him, but fascinated with the vampire whose face hovered over hers. "You've never complained about it before." She pointed out almost matter-of-factly.

"You're right. I haven't." Stefan agreed before he took her lips back into his, his teeth coming to a playful nip on her lower lip. He tugged gently before allowing the girl to roll him over onto his back, the comfort of the pillows and sheets finding a spot against his shoulders and head.

The girl kissed him harder, finding it easier to lose herself in Stefan. Her own sigh of pleasure cascading with his in the silent house. Luckily for them, Damon had taken the day away and it was perfect that she had managed to come over for a visit. The thought left her mind as his hands roamed down the middle of her back and settled comfortably before pulling her even closer into the enclosed space between them. Her lips still managing to stay against his, she spoke during the heated moment through kisses. "God.. Stefan.."

Excitement filled his insides and almost came to a full out roar from within him. He held his bloodlust to the deepest part of his mind, reminding himself that Caroline was still a fragile mortal girl. Even though she was, it was tempting and he knew she occasionally liked it rough. Using his speed, he grasped her against himself until he rose from the bed and dashed against the wall in the bedroom they were currently in, pinning her to the wall as his mouth found her neck in a flash of heated kisses. "Damn it.. Don't rile me up like that." He almost scolded, a light snarl in his tone as he worked at her neck.

She let her head lay loosely against the wall as her lips curved into a grin. Her arms looped around his neck and she slightly giggled, her breathing quicker as she tried to catch herself from the hot kiss they shared a moment ago. "I like you riled up." She reminded him.

[x]

"Don't do that, Stefan!" Caroline cried, her eyes welling with tears in anger as she tried to respond to his words.

"Don't do what? Tell you that I care about you?" Stefan shot back, confusion plaguing his features as he peered back at her in shock.

She halted her sobs, trying to control herself in his presence though it was harder than she could have remembered. Everything had gone to hell quicker than she could have remembered. Damon had murdered her mother, the Originals had escaped the tomb and she was living in constant fear of becoming a vampire's midnight snack every single night for the last three months. "You don't have any idea what is going on with me, okay? You just don't!" Caroline stated, her voice firm though she cried.

The brunette inched towards her, trying to remind himself of the fear that seemed to shake her. He didn't want this for Caroline; he didn't want her hurt. Stefan just wanted her to have the life she should have had without any of this. "I'm sorry," he apologized, trying to show concern on his features as he took another inch towards her.

The girl shook her head in disagreement and tried to move though her feet stayed rooted to her current spot in her bedroom. "My mom's gone, Stefan." She almost lost control and forced herself back as much as she could to stability. "She's gone.." She repeated in a whisper, not a single string of hope in her tone or her blue eyes.

Those eyes struck him with an intense force, something he had never had yet to experience in all the years he had been a human or a vampire. As he took the last small step towards her, Stefan brought Caroline into his arms and clenched onto the small framed girl for dear life. "I'm so sorry, Caroline. I am." He whispered to her as he hushed her sobs. She shook against him, and he lightly shut his eyes to force back the rage that settled in his gut for what his brother had done. Not a day went by since it happened that he had wanted to kill his brother. The only problem was, he had no idea where the vampire went into hiding.

"I promised you, that that son of a bitch won't get away with it." Stefan's deep voice reassuring yet dark as he spoke quietly to her. "I meant it."

[x]

"You'll never find her, Stefan." His voice taunted him in a rather amused tone.

A husky growl played against his words, his eyes deep with rage and his teeth showing their fangs at the vampire that lay ahead of him. "Where the hell is she, Klaus?" He asked again, this time with more demand in his question. No fear gripped him, only the heated rage that boiled in his veins.

Smiling almost devilishly, Klaus took in a deep breath before speaking once more and he sat at ease in the abandoned bar, on the stool as he peered back at Stefan. "I told you, you'll never find her. Even if you had, it would have been too late." He took a pause, he loved to play with his puppets, and Stefan was his new and current toy. "You see, Stefan. I have plans for little old Caroline."

"If you touched her-"

"What? You're going to kill me?" The more Stefan spoke, the more amused Klaus seemed to be. "Need I remind you that you used the dagger on my brother Elijah and that there is no alternative to killing an Original? I mean, really killing an Original. Sure you could stake me right here and now, but then you'd have to try and I'd beat you to the punch." He finished, a soft tone of intimidation key in his words.

Damon managed to rush in the abandoned building, his breath heavy and his face beaten, bruised and parts of his clothing mangled though his body showed no relevant damage. "I found her, Stefan. They're hiding her in the old church."

Without another moments notice, Stefan raced forward, his legs having trouble keeping him in a steady race for time as the now increasing fear managed to sneak into his system. He wanted nothing but the best for Caroline, and he knew Klaus would not have been the one to give her that. Finally coming upon the church, he allowed that rage to fuel his course of action and while a pair of vampires tried to fight him off from not reaching the corridor of the church, he grasped one of them and hurled them into a nearby bench. His green eyes watched as the bench broke, some of the wood becoming an easy weapon for him before he quickly snapped off a piece and rammed it right through one of the lackeys Klaus had sent to keep Caroline from him.

As he rushed into the room, he was suddenly slammed up against the wall, Caroline's hand crippling his throat with a strength only a vampire could have managed. "Caroline… No! What did they do to you?" His eyes suddenly vivid with emotion and shock.

As the blonde bared her fangs, she held Stefan in place and finally came to realization that it wasn't anyone who was going to harm her. "Stefan?" She asked, her grip becoming looser before she released the brunette and stepped backwards a little groggy.

The smell that filled his nose was easy to detect and he realized they had drugged Caroline with vervain, after they had managed to turn her into a vampire. He caught her before she slumped over almost lifelessly into his arms. "Caroline.." He managed to breath out, allowing tears to fall from his face.

[x]

"It's not going to be easy, is it?" She wondered, her eyes staring blankly at the bed sheet beneath her. Being a vampire was on the scale of something she had never wanted to become in her life. There were plenty of other routes and she had hoped it would have been anything but this.

"It's not." Stefan agreed, his arms crossed loosely over his chest as he stood in her bedroom.

"It just… It scares me to think that Klaus has some plan for me. I mean, what was he even talking about?" She began to ramble, the sign of worry stringing into her words.

Stefan's eyes glazed over sadly as he tried to allow himself to come to terms with the fact that he couldn't make it to her in time. "It's my fault, Caroline. I couldn't save you." He explained, defeat crippling him.

Her gaze rose from the bed and she stared across the empty space at him, the light of the sun peeking through her blinds and casting dim light on the side of his face. "It's not your fault. You didn't do this to me."

"I did. Because if I had just pushed myself harder, maybe I could have found you a day sooner. Maybe this whole thing could have been averted." Stefan began.

She rose from her position to a standing point. "There was nothing you could have done."

"Damon found you! How impossible could it have been if it was Damon who had found you?" Stefan responded, obvious distraught on his face.

"He found me because he still feels guilty about my mom! You went to Klaus for me! Not many vampires would have been able to face Klaus and try to bargain with him!" She urged him to see her point of view.

He sighed before looking away from her. "And it still wasn't enough." He reminded her.

Caroline walked across the room and brought his face into her hands, wanting him to look at her. "Don't blame yourself." She demanded gently.

Stefan's green eyes fell to hers and he almost immediately became swept away in the calm blues that peered back at him. He tried to find comfort in her, but it was different. Her hands weren't warm anymore, and her heart wasn't beating. She was a vampire and he only had himself to blame. He hesitated, but he stood there, staring back at her unable to move. She was going to remain forever the thing he hated most about himself and yet he could only scold himself for her getting caught in the crossfire of it all.

[x]

The bitterness that ate at her words told Stefan that she was right, and he still couldn't find meaning in himself to answer her. He concentrated on finding the words, but he felt at a loss. What was he to say? That she was right? That she was just a monster to him like she had said herself? The younger Salvatore thought that she was anything but a monster. Even though she had been turned into a vampire, he had still seen the shining and bouncy person that radiated from the inside of Caroline Forbes. He didn't know why he did what he did and while he knew Elena was playing both him and his brother, he didn't have words for why he had caved to her in a heated moment they shared.

"I knew it." Caroline's voice flat but full of pain.

"It has nothing to do with her being alive and you being a vampire!" Stefan responded, though he was still at a loss for words. "You know that Elena and I had something before you and I even became anything, Caroline."

"I don't recall you saying that to me any of the nights you came over to _my_ place, crawling into _my_ bed and sleeping with _me _while she went after Damon!" The blonde vampire returned easily, the irritation gripping her words.

He almost cringed at the truth she spoke. There was a time that Stefan knew that Elena was playing him and during that time, he wasn't exactly the most faithful boyfriend. "She just-"

"Reminds you of Katherine, I know. But, I thought you said that Katherine only used you and look, history must be repeating itself." Caroline sighed, tired of the lies and the games. "Unlike Katherine, Elena can't compel you, Stefan. So, obviously you want to be with her more than you have ever wanted to be with me." She turned on her heel and began to walk away from the outside of the boarding house, a nauseas feeling rising in her stomach.

Stefan paced quickly behind her without hesitation. He needed her to understand him better, he needed her to know he really did love her. "I was always more interested in you! Even while I was with Elena! I made a mistake, Caroline!"

"You're only saying that because you got caught!" She spat back.

"I'm not!" Stefan grabbed her and hurried around to stand in front of her and face her. "I'm saying it because it's true!" He took a slow relaxed breath in as her eyes seemed to burn through his, a fire he'd never wished upon himself while knowing the girl. "When your mom died, it hurt me like hell to see you that way. When Klaus took you from me, I wanted to die." His voice soft but truthful. "This was a mistake, and I wish I had a chance to take it back, but I don't. You don't need to listen to what I have to say, but I'm sorry."

"You're right." She took a step back from him and turned her head from his eyes. "I don't have to listen to what you have to say." Caroline pushed past him and walked on.

He spun on his own heel, watching her walk away from him in the dark. "I love you, Caroline." Stefan tried, his tone desperate but sad.

She took a moment to pause before shaking her head and looking back at him briefly. "After all we've been through, I can't believe that's the first time you've said that to me." Caroline turned back around and walked on, not allowing the pain to swallow her whole and consume her. Her vision became blurry but she blinked away the pain, not wanting to distort her vision pool just yet as she darted off into the dark.

[x]

It had been twenty years since he had last seen the blonde vampire and she still looked as strikingly beautiful as he remembered. The vibrant bouncing in her eyes had left years ago, and from where they stood in the dark, he could see it had yet to return. A thick lump formed in his throat as his eyes desperately searched her. Stefan was still unsure if he had been seeing the real thing or if she was just an illusion to a memory like the rest of the shadows around him. He figured the ghost of her was haunting him, the surroundings enclosing him from the rest of the world beyond the forest. When he noticed her shift her body weight to her left hip, he realized it was not a ghost. It was Caroline Forbes in the flesh.

She gave off no sign of relaxation herself as the brunette figured that she too realized he wasn't just a ghost giving false hope. The cold air made the silence thicker than it had needed to be and all he could do was sit there and gaze at her, his eyes speaking of a sorrow that only she could have seen. Before he could take a chance on speaking or having a conversation with her, she turned around, her arms loosely over her chest and as she walked away she seemed to evaporate into the fog. He had watched her walk away again, the crippling regret that had sat with him for the last twenty years only intensifying as the familiar scent he remembered followed her off into the night, leaving him alone once more.

* * *

><p><em>Word Count: 2,839<em>


End file.
